Furniture construction



w. s. HOLABIRD FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jain.. 11, 194e Arr PatentedOct. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,428,877 'FURNITURECONSTRUCTION William S. Holabird, Hamilton, Ind. Application January 11,1946, Serial No. 640,408

ICI. 311-113) 4 Claims.

- This invention relates to furniture construction for tables and likestructures having supporting legs, and particularly it relates to theattachment or mounting of the legs on such structures;

Where tables and like structures are to be provided with legs that areto be -attached to the table top or the like after completion of theassembly of the top member, it has heretofore been found that suchattachment has involved operational difficulties that resulted in delayin profduction as well as in increased cost of the product, and it istherefore an important object of the 'present invention to enable vlegsfor tablesA and like structures to be secured in place rin a simple andexpeditious manner. A further and more specific object'of the inventionis to enable the depending side and end rails of a table or the like tobe joined together lby a metallic memberthat is not only7 decorative andornamental in appearance but which also secures the legs in the desiredrelation to the top or other member that is to be supported by suchlegs. v

Other and further objects related to the foregoing are to afford a noveland Vhighly advantageous corner bracket for tables and the like; toenable such a corner bracket to be made from sheet metal; to afford asimpley and effective interlocking connection between such a bracket Yand the elements of a table or the like in which the bracket is to beused; to enable'the legs of a table or the like to be clamped andsecured in position by such a bracket, and to enable such va bracket tobe put in place subsequent to the 'assembly of the other elements of thestructure.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration shows a'preferredembodiment and the principle thereof and what I now lconsider to be theYbest mode in which I have contemplated applying Fig. 1 and showing themanner Vin which each leg of the table is associated with the table top;Y Fig. 3 `is a perspective view of the corner 2 bracket utilized insecuring the legs in position;

Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig.l; and y l Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and showing an alternativeform of the invention. y

In the form chosen for disclosure herein the invention is embodied in arectangular table I0 having similar supporting legs I2 of the hairpintype secured at the respective corners of the table. The table I0 is inthe present case illustrated as being of the extensible type havingtable top sectionsl that are separable along a central division line I6and are associated'for relative separating movement byr means (notshown) of a conventional character. The table top sections I4 havedepending side rails I8 and end rails 20 secured thereto in aconventional manner adjacent and parallel to the side and end edgesthereof, as for example, in ther manner shown in Fig. 4. As there shown,a connecting strip or block 22 is disposed in the inside corner so as toabut the lower surface of the top section I4 and the inside surface ofthe rail, as I3, and screws 24 and 26 are extended through the block 22in a right angular relation so as to secure the block 22 to both the topI4 and the rail I8.

In accordance with the present invention the legs I2 are associated withthe table top by means of corner brackets 30 which are so formed as toreceive and clamp the upper ends of the legs I2 and also to form anartistic and rugged connection between the adjacent ends of the side andend rails I8 and 20. Thus, as shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, eachbracket 30 is made-from sheet metal so as to afford a connecting portion3|, and end clamps 32, disposed at oppositeends of the connectingportion 3|. The end clamps 32 are parallel to each other and are adaptedto receive and embrace the upper ends of the leg I2 that is to beassociated therewith'. In the present instance each leg I2 is formedfrom tubular metal stock, preferably chromiumplated or otherwisefinished to afford an attractive appearance, and this tubular stock isbent midway between its ends as at IZX to afford parallel portions I2Rand I 2L that are of equal length'.

The end clamps 32 of the corner bracket 33 are arranged to embrace theupper ends of the tubular leg portions IQR, and I2L with a substantialarea of surface contact, and each end clamp 32 is formed to afford abearing face 33 that is arranged to bear against the adjacent end of onecf the side or end rails I8 or 2i). Thus the bearing faces 33 aredisposed at right anglesrto each other, as will be evident in Fig. 2,andthe side and end rails I8 and 2G are arranged to terminate in endfaces 35 that are so spaced that when the clamping faces 33 of thebracket 30 are disposed against the end faces 35, the leg portions |2Rand I 2L will be disposed so their axes lie in a vertical plane that isdisposed at an angle of 45 with respect to the side and end rails.

The bearing faces 33 of the bracket 3i! and the end faces 35 of the sideand end rails I3 and 20 are formed for interlocking engagement, and thisis accomplished byaffording vertical grooves 38 in each of the end faces35 to receive positioning lugs 40 struck from each of the bearing faces33. When the upper end portions of the leg sections IZR and |2L havebeen put in place in the end clamps 32, the bracket 33 is put inposition with its upper edge against the lower face of the top I 4 andwith the lugs dit extended into the grooves 38, and the assembly issecured -in this position by drawing the center portion 3i of thebracket in an inward direction. For this purpose the bracket 35 has aclamping bolt 52 secured as by welding at 43 in a central location onthe portion 3l so as to extend inwardly at `right angles to the plane inwhich the leg porn tions 12R. and I2L are to be disposed.

When the bracket 313 is thus disposed in position on the table, the bolt42 is extended through an opening 44 in an anchoring bar 45, and aclamping nut 46 is threaded onto the inner end of the bolt 42. Theopposite ends of the anchoring ybar 45 are seated in locating notches i3formed respectively in the inner faces of the adjacent side and endrails i8 and 23 so as to locate the bar l5 at an angle of 45 withrespect to the -side and end rails i8 and 2B, and hence, by

tightening the nut 45, the center portion 3l of the corner bracket maybe drawn inwardly so as to tightly clamp the bracket 33 against the ends.of the side and end rails while at the saine time ,effecting a tightclamping of the leg portions 12R and |2L within the end clamps 32.

The clamping of the leg portions IER and iZL Within the end clamps 32 inaccordance with the present invention is attained by forming the endclamps with opposed side portions adapted to embrace opposite sidesurfaces of a leg portion, and one of each such pair of side .portionsis arranged to abut against the end of a side or end rail While theother one of such side portions is arranged to be forced toward theembraced leg portion by the central portion 3| of the corner bracket.Thus the portion 33 of each end clamp i'sjoined in a bendable relationto a portion 33A, Awhich is arcuate in cross section and is joined atBIA to the adjacent edge of the central section 31 and this point ofjoinder at 3m is so located that tightening of the bolt t2 tends totighten the portion 33A about the leg portion while at the 'same timeclamping the portion 33 against the end surface 35.

The attachment of the bolt 52 to the cornerv bracket 30 may besimplified in some instances as .novel and highly attractive tableconstruction wherein the metallic corner brackets not only afford aconnection between adjacent side and end rails of the table while at thesame time serving to secure the table legs in position.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodimentsof my invention, it is to be understood that these are capable ofvariation and modification and I therefore do not wish to be limited tothe precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchchanges and alterations as fall within the purview of the followingclaims:

I claim:

1. In a table or like structure having a top member with depending sideand end rails fixed thereto adjacent to the side and end edges of thetop member, the side and end rails terminating in spaced relation in endedges having vertically extending slots therein, corner brackets forjoining the adjacent ends of said side and end rails, each of saidcorner brackets being formed from sheet metal to afford a centralsection and a pair of 'clamp portionseach adapted to receive a leglciuding an anchoring bar foreach bracket and operable to hold saidbrackets in clamping relation to Ysaid leg portions and in operativeVconnesting relation to the adjacent side and end rails.

2. In a table or like structure having a top member with depending sideand end rails fixed thereto'adjacent to the sides and ends of the topmember, the side and end rails terminating in spaced relation in endedges having vertically extending slots therein, corner brackets forjoining the adjacent ends of said side and en d rails, each of saidcorner brackets being formed from sheet metal to afforda Icentralsection and a pair of clamp portions each adapted to receive a legportion, a 'pair of lugs on each "corner bracket adapted to extend intosaid slots, and means including a clamping bolt and an anchoring-bar foreach bracket and operable to hold said brackets in clamping relation tosaid leg portions and in operative connecting relation to the adjacentVthereto adjacent to the side and end edges 'of the top member, the sideand end rails terminating in spaced relation in end edges havingvertically extending slots therein, corner brackets for joining theadjacent ends of said side and end rails, each of said lcorner bracketsbeing formed from sheet metal to afford a central section and a pair ofclamp portion-s each adapted to receive a leg portion, a pair of lugsvon each corner bracket adapted to extend into said slots, and means foreach bracket for imparting an inward force to the central sectionthereof to hol'd .said brackets Iin clamping relation Ito said l'egportions and in operative connecting relation to the adjacent side andend rails.

4. vIn a tabl-e or like .structure having a top member with dependingside and end rais xed thereto adjacent to the -side and'end edges of thetop member, the side and Vend rails terminating in spaced relation inend edges having vertically extending slots therein, corner brackets forjoining the adjacent ends of said side and end rails, eachof said cornerbrackets being formed from sheet metal to afford a central section Aanda pair Tof clamp portions each adapted to receive alegportion,-a pair-oflugs oneach-corner bracket WILLIAM S. HOLABIRD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

Number UNITED STATES PAIENTS Name Date Groebl Apr. 29, 1884 Arnold Aug.12, 1890 Goodyear Nov. 28, 1893 Calton Aug. 2, 1932 Greitzer Nov. 1'7,1942 Ferguson Oct. 9, 1945

